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Franklin - Local Town Pages

Shelter Full of Animals Seeking Love around the Holidays

One-year-old Margarita is a current resident of Baypath in search of a new home with lots of love.

By J.D. O’Gara
Is pet adoption the wrong thing to do around the holiday season? 
Baypath Humane Society’s Kathy Lundgren says it depends.
“There’s always so much going on around the holidays to adopt a pet,” says the Baypath volunteer, “It’s not an ideal time if you’re going to have company over and a lot of people coming and going at your house. It is ideal for some people who have time off from work and can acclimate them to their homes. It really depends on what people are expecting, company, and the holiday hustle and bustle.”

 Maia and Max were recently saved from a Korean meat market. Thanks to a generous grant, these two potential adoptees will come with a free positive training package.

Adopting a pet as a surprise gift? Lundgren says no.
“We always want to be talking to (potential owners), to meet them or at least talk to them to make sure everyone is on board,” says the volunteer, “It’s not fair to the animal to bounce them around. Rather than a lot of paperwork, she says, “We find out more about people just by having a conversation with them. If you live in an apartment, we want to make sure your landlord is ok with it, if you’re adopting a dog, we want to make sure there’s no breed restrictions, and if you have a pet at home, we like to ask for the vet information. We can find out a lot just by talking to the veterinarian’s office, like if someone has 10 pets at home and is overwhelmed, or that this person is a great pet owner.”
During COVID, says Lundgren, “a lot of people were bored – they were home, and they were getting pets and trying to entertain the kids.” Sometimes, she says, that could be the “wrong reason for getting a pet that’s going to live with you for 18 years.” Asking how long a potential owner has wanted a pet, she says, “avoids knee jerk reactions. We didn’t want those bounce backs, but now, we’re getting a lot more of those bounce backs.”

In fact, a higher number of the animals than usual are local surrenders, says Lundgren. 
“That’s unusual for us,” she says, “and it’s really tough. We only have room in our shelters for 20 dogs, so we rely on fosters a lot. The other 50% are a few from down south and, believe it or not, Korea. We have four dogs from the Korean meat market.” Baypath has worked with the International Humane Society to save these dogs from Korea and has, and you can watch the story of two of the dogs at https://youtu.be/zxFiaSFCzVc . Many of the current rescue dogs from south U.S. are beagles removed from Envigo, and you can view their stories at  https://youtu.be/eqhZ92VgFxs.
Most cats, she says, come from the local area.
“There are still little colonies of cats. I know in Franklin there was a group of people who were tracking, neutering, and spaying cats. We also work with a couple different vets on that,” says Lundgren. At the press time, about 25 cats were available for adoption.
For a staff of only about 10, Baypath Humane Society, which has been around for 40 years, manages to adopt out about 900 dogs and cats per year.
“We get out a lot of animals, we have an incredible staff, only about 10 people that work very hard,” says Lundgren, “Ninety percent of our business is run by volunteers. It’s a pretty well-oiled machine.”
Baypath Humane Society, located at 500 Legacy Farms in Hopkinton, is currently closed for public drop-ins, although they are still actively taking in, caring for and rehoming cats and dogs. Those interested are encouraged to call (508) 435-6938 between 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends. To view available animals up for adoption and learn more, visit www.baypathhumane.org, or follow @BaypathHumane on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.